Inefficient Love
There’s a line in one of Paul’s letters that I keep coming back to:
“I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me.”
Here’s the full scripture that this verse comes from,
1 Timothy 1:12–17 (CEB)
I’m grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord,
who has given me strength,
because he considered me faithful.
He appointed me to his service even though I used to speak against him, attack his people, and I was proud.
But I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and without faith. Our Lord’s grace was more than abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This saying is reliable and deserves full acceptance:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,”
and I’m the biggest sinner of all.
But this is why I was shown mercy:
so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience to me first of all.
So I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him
for eternal life.
To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible,
and only God, to God be honor and glory forever and always. Amen.
It sounds simple, but when you know Paul’s story, it carries weight. Before he became one of the leaders of the Jesus movement, he was known as Saul. Saul lived in the time of Jesus, but didn’t follow Jesus while he was on Earth. Saul saw himself as protecting God’s honor and proceeded to violently pursue and destroy the early church, which consisted of “Jesus-followers.” He went from town to town, hunting them down. He believed he was on the right side of history.
And then, on the road to Damascus, everything shifted. A blinding light. A voice calling him by name: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul was renamed Paul, and he attributed the blinding light and voice to be that of the risen Christ. From that moment on, his life was never the same. The persecutor became a preacher. The enemy became an apostle. The man who tried to silence the message became the one who carried it across the world.
Paul knew what it meant to be lost.
And he knew what it meant to be found.
That’s why he could say, with such depth and gratitude, “I was shown mercy. God’s grace overflowed.”
The scripture for this week is a beautiful parable (story) from Jesus:
Luke 15:1–10 (CEB)
All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus
to listen to him.
The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Jesus told them this parable:
“Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep
and lost one of them.
Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture
and search for the lost one until he finds it?
And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders.
When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors,
saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’
In the same way,
I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner
who changes both heart and life than
over ninety-nine righteous people who
have no need to change their hearts and lives.
“Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them,
won’t light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching her home carefully until she finds it?
When she finds it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’
In the same way, I tell you,
joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.”
The Gospel of Luke tells us that tax collectors and “sinners”, the outsiders of that world, were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. These were the people others had written off. They didn’t fit the mold. They weren’t welcome at the respectable tables.
And while they leaned in to listen, the religious experts were grumbling. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them,” they muttered.
That’s when Jesus told his stories, which are often referred to as Parables. These were stories intended to teach multiple audiences, like we see here in Luke.
“Imagine a shepherd with one hundred sheep,” Jesus said. “One of them wanders off. Wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one until he finds it?”
On the surface, the story can go two different ways.
One way to see it is this: the shepherd knows the flock is safer together than when a sheep is isolated. The ninety-nine are fine for now. It’s the one who’s wandered off who needs protection.
But if we’re being logical, if we only use reason, no shepherd would do this. Why risk ninety-nine lives for one? It doesn’t add up.
And that’s exactly the point. God’s love doesn’t work on efficiency. It isn’t practical or balanced in the way we often want it to be. God’s love is relentless. It’s extravagant. It refuses to let one life slip away unnoticed.
And when the shepherd finds that sheep, he doesn’t scold it.
He doesn’t drag it back in frustration.
He lifts it onto his shoulders, brings it home, and throws a party.
Jesus kept going with this teaching and offered another story.
“Imagine a woman with ten silver coins. She loses one. She lights a lamp. She sweeps the house. She searches carefully until she finds it. And when she does, she calls her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Celebrate with me—I found it!’”
It’s costly. It’s inconvenient.
It seems almost absurd to make such a big deal over a single coin.
But again, that’s the point.
This is what God is like.
God refuses to rest while even one of us is missing.
And when we are found, heaven throws a celebration.
When You Feel Lost
Friends, the news in the US has been rough lately. The headlines jar us. Acts of violence leave us shaken. Communities grieve. Lives are cut short. Others look around for some sense of reason.
In times like these, it’s tempting to go numb.
To isolate.
To keep ourselves distant.
If that’s where you are right now, the good news of these stories is that you are not forgotten. You are not left behind. You are worth the search. To God, you are never too far gone.
Even when you cannot find hope, hope is still searching for you.
When You Feel Surrounded by Community
And if you’re in a place where you do feel connected and safe, these stories hold another message. They remind us that one person wandering is never too few. One life is always worth protecting. One hurting soul matters. One person in danger matters.
And if we are people shaped by this kind of love, then it’s not just the shepherd who searches. The whole herd moves with them. The flock isn’t complete until every sheep is gathered in.
If we are united in love, then all of us are part of the search. We become eager to welcome, eager to embrace, eager to make sure no one feels forgotten or left behind.
The Invitation
These parables are invitations. They push against our tendency to grumble, to draw lines, to decide who’s in and who’s out. They open up a vision of joy instead of suspicion, mercy instead of dismissal, celebration instead of resentment.
If God’s love is relentless and extravagant, then our love is called to be relentless and extravagant too. A love that risks. A love that persists. A love that celebrates when healing comes.
And here’s where Paul’s words come back around. His story isn’t just about him. His testimony becomes ours. “I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me.”
Strengthened by grace. Found by mercy. Sent to embody the same relentless love.
So when the world feels harsh, when despair presses in, remember this: you are sought. You are rejoiced over. You are strengthened to join the search.
Because hope is not practical. Love is not efficient. And God never stops until we are found.
I regularly use AI to help edit and enhance my posts. This post was aided by AI for editing. As always, the content and meaningful engagement with scripture are mine.
